41. Ben
41
Ben
C arlisle and I have spent the last week sequestered at my house, and they've been the happiest days of my life. However, as ecstatic as I am to be reunited with Carlisle, I can’t stop stewing over Becky’s underhanded dealings. Her actions caused so much turmoil and heartache.
After giving it some thought, and with Carlisle’s blessing, I called Willa a couple days ago. I wanted to know if Willa had any more information that she could provide me regarding Becky's possible motives.
"I’d like to say that I can’t believe that Becky would do that to you and Carlisle, but…”
“But what, Willa?”
Willa’s sigh is lengthy before she responds. “Looking back, it’s so obvious how manipulative Becky was, but in the moment, I didn’t see it. I thought Becky was a close friend, and I often confided in her. Becky knew everything I was dealing with…”
“Willa, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but what were you dealing with?”
"A while back, I hit a… rough patch. A crisis, really. It was traumatic and it made me reevaluate my life and my priorities. Becky knew about it. I had to tell her because I needed her professional expertise as my publicist, but I also wanted to tell her because I needed her support as my friend. Becky knew I was sad and lonely and looking for love, and I feel like she used that knowledge against me. At the start of the press tour, after lamenting to her about my unrequited feelings for you, I threatened to quit the showmance—"
"Oh, shit," I muttered as her words jog my memory. "That night in Tokyo, I told Becky and Jada that I'd quit the showmance if that's what I had to do to keep Carlisle. I wonder if that was the catalyst for Becky. Because she told Carlisle I was breaking up with her just a few hours later."
"It wouldn't surprise me, Ben. She did a lot of shady shit that I'm only now realizing."
"Like…" I prod.
"After I threatened to pull the plug on our arrangement, Becky persuaded me not to by telling me that she thought you were developing feelings for me as well. Every time we'd talk, she’d plant ideas in my head and tell me things that you’d supposedly said about me to her.” She scoffs, "And I'm sure none of it was true. But at the time, I believed her."
“What kind of things did she tell you I said?”
“Things like… I looked sexy in a certain dress that I’d worn to one of the premieres. One time she said that you’d requested that we add a dinner date to our schedule. That dinner in Berlin? Becky told me you’d asked for it.”
“I didn’t. Becky told me that the studio requested it.” I pause, wondering if I should admit the next bit but decide that Willa needs to know the extent of Becky’s deceit. “It was around then that Becky asked me to hang out with you more and keep you away from Thad.”
“That tracks,” Willa scoffs. “She told me you were spending more time with me because you were jealous of the time I spent with Thad."
"Although I don't like Thad much, I never said that."
"I figured. I’m pretty sure she was behind those leaked photos of us in the hotel and airplane too. Who knows? She may have even been behind the lingerie mix-up." Willa sighs. "I had already started doubting Becky's trustworthiness before, but this conversation solidifies in my mind that she's no friend of mine."
After our conversation wrapped up, I was convinced that Becky was guilty of breaking up my relationship with Carlisle to ensure my continued participation in the showmance with Willa.
But I was still left with the question of why . Why would Becky push Willa and I together so hard? Was she acting as a friend, albeit a misguided one? Or were her more motivations more nefarious and self-serving?
Those questions led me down a series of rabbit holes as I started poking around and asking questions. After I spoke to my attorney about the situation, he recommended that I hire a private investigator to get to the bottom of it, so I did.
When I received an email early this morning from the PI, I knew what I had to do.
Leaving Carlisle at home, I went to confront Jada. I gave Carlisle the option of accompanying me, but I’m glad she didn’t want to come. I don’t ever want Jada and Becky’s brand of Hollywood sleaze to touch Carlisle again. She’s far too good to be tainted by this salacious industry any more than she already has been .
I stride purposefully through the large glass and chrome doors of the Jada Fischer Talent Agency, bypassing the reception area, noticing all the little details that I’ve never paid much attention to before.
The prime location.
The brand-new building.
The finest furniture and décor.
And the many offices that sit empty.
When I reach Jada’s outer office, I nod a terse hello at Angie, Jada’s personal secretary.
“Good morning, Mr. Sutt—wait! You can’t go in there! She’s in a meeting!” Angie leaps from her desk, close on my tail, as I stride past her.
When I barge into Jada’s inner sanctum unannounced, I’m spooling for a fight. Jada sits behind her desk, like a queen on her throne.
In my wake, Angie sputters, "I'm so sorry, Ms. Fischer. He—"
“That’s okay, Angie. Please shut the door on your way out.” Ever the consummate professional, Jada is the picture of composure. “Ben, good morning,” she nods as she half-rises from behind her desk and motions for me to take a seat.
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Becky sitting on the couch on the far side of Jada’s spacious corner office.
Over the past few days, as I puzzled over why Becky would orchestrate the demise of my relationship with Carlisle, I kept circling back to one thing. Only one reason seems to make sense, and then the private investigator confirmed my suspicions.
The first bit of damning evidence that the PI provided me with was that the phone number I had saved in my phone as Carlisle’s—the number with an LA area code—was a number registered under Jada’s business. Which meant that someone working for Jada changed Carlisle’s number to one of their own to keep me from contacting Carlisle.
The second piece of evidence provided the answer to the motive.
The pandemic hit Hollywood hard. Shutting down television and movie studios. Halting current productions. Stalling new projects in development. Then just as the studios began to operate normally and recoup their losses from the pandemic fallout, Hollywood was hit by the writers’ and actors’ labor strikes.
Once again, Hollywood came to a near standstill. The unions disallowed any publicity for movie releases, and the box office numbers tanked. Without new contracts being signed, agents and their agencies sustained millions in lost revenue. Without bloated profits, studios’ budgets grew leaner and massive ripples were felt throughout the industry. Projects were scrapped, salaries were slashed, and layoffs were widespread. Studios, actors, and everyone associated with the industry took huge financial losses.
Including talent agents and their agencies.
Jada is underwater big time after taking huge risks by expanding her business too quickly and at the wrong time. According to the financial report the PI emailed me, Jada is deeply in debt, and if she doesn’t close some big deals soon, her business will likely go under. Since Becky works for Jada, she would lose her livelihood too.
Jada represents both Willa and me, and we’re currently the biggest stars on her roster. Willa is taking a break from acting to travel, and I want to pursue parts in smaller, independent films that aren’t as lucrative. Both of which mean that our future potential earnings are dwindling at a time when Jada is anxious to increase her profits.
When Captain Commander was projected to be a monster hit at the box office, Jada saw an opportunity to cash in. The movie studio is eager to sign Willa and me onto the sequel. My salary for the first film was inflated, but the numbers being discussed for the next installment are massive, representing a huge financial boon for Jada too. Since Willa is also her client, Jada’s commensurate percentage from our combined salaries would be enough to keep her business afloat for a few more months, buying her time to sign new talent and book new gigs for her existing clients.
Jada was desperate for Willa and me to remain on good terms with one another personally, so that we would be open to, or even eager about, the idea of working together professionally again.
However, if my relationship with Carlisle became more serious, Jada rightfully assumed that I’d be leery to sign on to another Captain Commander movie because it would create an uncomfortable situation for Willa and me to play lovers onscreen again.
Given Willa’s unrequited feelings for me, I doubt she would have willingly subjected herself to that painful situation either.
And if neither Willa nor I were amenable to resurrect our roles, then the second movie would be dead in the water.
Simply put, Carlisle’s ongoing presence in my life posed a threat to the likelihood of the second Captain Commander movie getting a green light. And Jada needed those contracts signed if she had any hope of saving her business.
While Willa and I were abroad, Jada and Becky worked hard behind the scenes to push us together in hopes that we’d start catching real feelings for each other. And if that didn't work, they were covering their bases by manipulating the situation to drive a wedge between Carlisle and me.
After reading the PI’s report and seeing it in stark black and white, I finally understood that money is all that Becky and Jada care about. My history, and Willa’s history, with them doesn’t matter. Loyalty be damned. They are both willing to manipulate us to suit their end goals. Willa was right to fire Becky, but I’m convinced Jada is just as much of a snake as Becky.
“I’m sure you know why I’m here,” I surmise.
Secretive and flustered glances fly between the two women, as they try to determine if there’s any way to rescue our fractured professional relationships, and if so, what their best play is.
Becky’s the first to crack. “Ben, I’m sorry. I overstepped at Jada’s request, but it really was for your own good.”
Laughing wryly, I bark, “Overstepped? Is that what you call telling my girlfriend that I don’t want to see her anymore and then paying her off?” Turning my ire to Jada, I continue. “And you? Using your lackeys during the promotional tour to change Carlisle’s number in my phone so I couldn’t contact her?”
Jada flushes and she tries to save face and deny my accusations. “Ben, I would never!” She hops up from her desk, staring me down.
“Cut the bullshit, Jada!” I roar, slamming my fist down on her desk. “Once I found out the truth, I’ve contemplated how it could have happened. My phone is with me all the time. How did anyone get access to it? How did anyone know my passcode to open my phone?” I pause. “And then it hit me. When I was arrested and booked in Tokyo, they confiscated all my belongings, and I had to supply them with my passcode to verify the timeline of events. When I was released, James, your employee, handed me back my things. He had ample opportunity to change Carlisle’s phone number, ensuring that I wouldn’t be able to contact her while I was overseas. There’s no way he would have done that on his own. He had to have done that at your behest.” I shake my head in disgust. “It’s one thing for you to manage my acting career, but my love life is a separate matter altogether, Jada. You had no right to manipulate my personal life for your gain. ”
Abandoning any semblance of remorse, Jada struts out from behind her desk. Leaning against it, she crosses her arms and narrows her eyes. “Ben, you can’t be that na?ve. You’ve been in the industry for far too long to not understand how it works. When you’re a celebrity, your personal and professional lives are a package deal, intertwined so tightly that they can never be untangled. I was trying to keep you from throwing away your career for a girl.”
The corner of my mouth tilts up. “Somewhere along the way, you forgot that you work for me, not the other way around, Jada. But that won’t matter anymore because you’re both fired.”